Nuzlocke Rules (For those who don’t know)

In order for some people to understand what I’m doing here with Pokemon Fire Red, I thought I should post this.

For those curious which rules I use, I just follow the basic rule set. I add in the rules about catching legendary’s and shiny’s to transfer forward, and I “box” not “release” fallen companions to also transfer forward.

First of is the basic rule set:

*Any Pokémon that faints is considered dead, and must be released.
*The player may only catch the first Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there are no second chances. If the first encounter in the area is a Double Battle in dark grass, the player may choose which of the two Pokémon they would like to catch.
*While not exactly a definite rule, the general consensus is that players must also nickname all of their Pokémon, for the sake of forming stronger emotional bonds.
*Also not a definite rule, but the general consensus is that a black out/white out is considered to be “game over”, even if there are Pokémon left in the PC.
*Strongly implied, though not explicitly mentioned in the comic, is the stipulation that you can use only Pokémon you have captured yourself, meaning traded Pokémon, mystery gifts, etc., are prohibited. Trading and retrading the same Pokémon (for the purpose of evolving a Golem, for example) is something of a gray area, and may fall under optional rules. As of White: Hard-Mode Episode 3, it is implied that the player can accept Pokémon that are received freely from NPC characters.
*Also strongly implied is a prohibition against voluntarily resetting and reloading the game when things go wrong. Being able to do so would render all of the other rules pointless.

A few extra rules I had to look up clarification on:

*Gift Fossils are legal, as are Fossils found in the desert or caves. (Kabuto/ Archen/ Anorith etc.)
*Pokemon that must be traded in order to evolve (Haunter, Graveler, Machoke etc.) are perfectly legal, and you may have your friend help you evolve them if you wish.
*Regarding the Eevee that find is Celadon or receive from Bill in Goldenrod City: It is your choice to consider it as an Encounter or not. If you choose, you may either obtain the Eevee and a Pokemon from the Game Corner, OR exclude one or the other. The choice is yours to make.

However, there are also a number of optional rules if you want to make the run harder or more interesting:

*Starter Pokémon is based off the player’s Trainer ID number. If the last number is 1-3 the player starts with a Grass type, 4-6 is Fire type, 7-9 is Water type, 0 is the player’s choice.
*Species/Dupes Clause: Adjusting the first encounter rule to ban duplicate captures.
*Not officially enforcing the rules until the player has Poké Balls and can catch Pokémon. For example, the Poochyena’S/Zigzagoon’s that the player has to save Professor Birch from is not counted as the first encounter on the route, and not counting any other encounters as such until they can catch. Likewise, in the games where the rival battle is immediately after getting the starter Pokémon, the “any that faint must be released” rule is not enforced at that time.
*Use the same amount of Pokémon as the opponent during a Gym battle or rival battle.
*Going to options and making the battle style “set”, leaving the player unable to switch out.
*After the first wild Pokémon was caught, the starter Pokémon must be released.
*Banning the use of Potions and healing items, relying only on Pokémon Centers for healing.
*Banning the use of Pokémon Centers, relying only on Potions and healing items for healing.
*Limiting Pokémon Center visits to a certain number per town.
*Banning the use of held items.
*Limiting the number of Poké Balls to purchase per Poké Mart.
*Banning the use of Master Balls.
*Rather than releasing the Pokémon, it can be permanently boxed, migrated, or transferred with Poké Transfer should it happen to faint.
*The player may not evolve captured Pokémon, but evolved Pokémon may be caught.
*Turning the difficulty on to Challenge Mode if playing Black 2 or White 2, which increases the levels of opposing Trainers.
*No catching/using legendary Pokémon.
*As a mercy rule, allowing 1-3 “second chances” or revives of fallen team members.
*As another mercy rule, if the player runs into a Shiny Pokémon on the incredibly rare chance, the player may still catch it, regardless of whether or not it is the first encounter in the area. It also does not need to be released if it faints.
*If the player has no Pokémon that can use a certain field move that is required to continue through any given point of the game, they may catch another Pokémon that can learn said field move. However, it cannot be used in battle for any reason, and must be released, permanently boxed, or migrated as soon as the player gets another Pokémon that can use said field move.
*Modifying the “first encounter only” rule for the Safari Zone, sometimes allowing one encounter for each area, or until they catch one Pokémon in the entire area, and vice versa.
*Banning the use of Poké Marts.

I think this is among the most vital information for me.
And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark on few general things, The website style is great, the articles is really great : D. Good job, cheers

Announcements

Finally got around to updating all old reviews to be in the same format with the same information. Also changed "the final score" category to "The High Score", to better represent that it is my high score from playing the game a short amount of time and not a rating of the game itself.

I would also like to start doing these again as I feel I do have time for it since Thursday and Friday are my nights off and I spend them playing games anyways.